Pakistan, Uzbekistan agree to strengthen institutional linkages to promote cultural exchange, people-to-people contact through media APP ISLAMABAD:- Pakistan and Uzbekistan have discussed to strengthen institutional linkages to promote cultural exchange and people-to-people contact through media. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar and Uzbekistan’s Ambassador Alisher Tukhtaev held a meeting here in Islamabad, APP reported on Monday.

“Pakistan values its partnership with Uzbekistan and is committed to turning shared ideas into tangible results for both countries”, In a post on X, Tarar said.

The minister said both sides discussed ways to boost cooperation in media, cinema and cultural exchanges, including potential joint productions and digital collaboration.

The discussion focused on strengthening cooperation between Pakistan and Uzbekistan in film production including cooperative short films, documentaries and drama series, the report stated.

“The ambassador appreciated Pakistan’s contribution in the promotion of peace in the region and efforts made by Islamabad for peace-related initiatives and negotiations,” APP said.

Pakistan, he said, pays significant value to its relations with Uzbekistan and is willing to further enhance cooperation in the fields of media, cinema and culture.

He said such initiatives would need the participation of established production houses and large scale film projects might be initiated through collaborative financial agreements between the two countries.

The minister highlighted the need to promote joint media content on the common historical and cultural legacy of Pakistan and Uzbekistan.

“Both sides agreed to improve co-ordination between their respective social media teams for development of joint digital content and co-ordinated online promotional strategy,” the APP report said.

It was also agreed to improve collaboration between the media organisations of the two countries.

The exchange of study tours of journalists of both sides will enhance mutual understanding and professional exchange, the minister added.

The benchmark index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) once again surpassed the 170,000-point mark, indicating that the PSX saw a robust recovery on the second trading day of the week.

A dramatic bullish trend was noticed in the stock market at the beginning of trade, with the index gaining more than 2,000 points and reaching the level of 171,006 at the same time.

It is important to recognise that the benchmark index had finished the previous trading session at 168,953 points, following a decrease of 1,525 points. This is something that should be mentioned.

The recovery is attributed by market observers to the resurgence of investor confidence as well as the optimistic trading sentiment that prevailed at the beginning of the new session.

The Punjab government has decided to buy one million metric tonnes of wheat from Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) to keep the prices of wheat and flour stable in the province.

The decision has been accepted by the Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif to maintain the stability of prices in the wheat and flour market and to provide the public with inexpensive flour and bread. Under the scheme, flour mills will be supplied wheat for Rs 3,300 per maund.

The provincial government said that the assertions of limitation on wheat supply from Sindh to other provinces through Punjab were not founded on confirmed facts and no formal complaints had been recorded so far about stopping of wheat supply from Sindh to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Officials said the procedure of declaration of wheat stocks is in progress and compilation of the whole data is underway. They also said that the present wheat crop has relatively lower grain size. They said stock assessment is important for planning food security.

The government said it will also assure supply of wheat to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under its obligation of inter-provincial after addressing the food requirements of Punjab itself.